Bryant University basketball coach reveals he’s gay in online essay

Bryant University assistant coach Chris Burns will spend this season as the first openly gay men's coach in Division I college basketball history.

Burns, 31, is in his third season as an assistant coach at the Rhode Island college. He came out in an essay he wrote that was published on Outsports.com.

He said the Supreme Court decision in June that legalized same-sex marriage led to his public declaration.

"Since I started telling people in college basketball over the last few months, I've realized my fears were far worse than reality," Burns wrote. "I've realized that people, for the most part, are human beings first.

"For a guy who's relatively cynical and can be negative, the reactions of people in my sport and in my life have shut me right up and reenergized my hope in the human spirit, in empathy."

Burns was a guard for Bryant from 2003-07.